Full Text of HR0075 94th General Assembly
HR0075 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, In 1885 Fr. Charles Hahn from St. Michael's in | 3 |
| Chicago established a mission in Libertyville, worshipping | 4 |
| initially in the old Town Hall; in 1886 the first Catholic | 5 |
| parish church, named for Ss. Peter and Paul, was built on North | 6 |
| First Street with Fr. Thomas Kearney as Pastor; in 1897 Fr. Wm. | 7 |
| J. Meehan led the parish, and he was followed by Fr. Patrick | 8 |
| Scanlon in 1901; and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, Fr. Scanlon guided the rebuilding of this first | 10 |
| church after a major fire in 1904, which included its | 11 |
| relocation to the present site on Maple Avenue; following the | 12 |
| completion of the new church, the parish name was changed to | 13 |
| St. Joseph; on July 2, 1905, Auxiliary Bishop Peter J. Muldoon | 14 |
| traveled to Libertyville to dedicate the new brick church; | 15 |
| parish membership then numbered approximately 75 families and | 16 |
| the new church had a capacity for 300 people; Fr. Wm. Kinsella | 17 |
| became Pastor in 1910; and | 18 |
| WHEREAS, In 1912, Fr. Stephen Luttrel succeeded Fr. | 19 |
| Kinsella, continuing as pastor until his death in 1923; he was | 20 |
| followed by Fr. Martin Nealis, who oversaw the brick | 21 |
| construction of the first parish school at 131 East Maple; soon | 22 |
| after the house at 217 Park Place was purchased to serve as | 23 |
| convent for the Sisters of Mercy who staffed the new school, | 24 |
| with the students numbering 150; 1931 brought Fr. Edward | 25 |
| Loughry to St. Joseph's, and despite the depression years of | 26 |
| the early 1930's, he motivated the parishioners to retire the | 27 |
| school debt; the Loughry meeting room was named in his honor; | 28 |
| and | 29 |
| WHEREAS, In 1946, the Rev. Harry C. Koenig began to help | 30 |
| Fr. Loughry serve the growing parish at Sunday worship | 31 |
| services; the rapid growth shortly after WWII required the | 32 |
| appointment of the church's first Assistant Pastor, Fr. Roger |
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| Jones; Fr. Koenig continued to help out until 1955, when he was | 2 |
| appointed pastor for the Sacred Heart parish in Chicago; by | 3 |
| this time, some 300 children were enrolled in St. Joseph's | 4 |
| Parochial School, clearly pointing to the need for greater | 5 |
| classroom space; Fr. Loughry launched a pledge drive with | 6 |
| parishioners pledging $263,000 toward construction of a new | 7 |
| school; later, in 1957, Fr. Loughry became ill and requested | 8 |
| that former pastor and now Monsignor Koenig, be appointed | 9 |
| administrator for St. Joseph's Church; he returned and | 10 |
| administered the new school's construction, opening in 1959 for | 11 |
| 498 students; and | 12 |
| WHEREAS, Early in the 1960's, St. Joseph's growth reached | 13 |
| 1,000 families and created a pressing need for a larger church; | 14 |
| under Msgr. Koenig's guidance, the current, beautiful and | 15 |
| modernistic church was completed in 1966; upon the death of Fr. | 16 |
| Loughry, Msgr. Koenig became pastor and remained until 1974, | 17 |
| when he was appointed Director of the Cardinal Stritch Retreat | 18 |
| House; the Koenig Center was named in his honor, and is the | 19 |
| site of the congregation's special family Masses and other | 20 |
| parish-wide activities; Mgr. Koenig and Rev. John Egan, Pastor | 21 |
| of Presentation Parish, launched the first "Twinning Program" | 22 |
| whereby St. Joseph's adopted Presentation as its sister parish; | 23 |
| today, several outreach programs continue to support | 24 |
| Presentation Parish on Chicago's west side; and | 25 |
| WHEREAS, Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Grady became pastor for a | 26 |
| brief period until appointed Bishop of Orlando, Florida; Msgr. | 27 |
| John P. O'Donnell served as pastor from 1975 until 1984; his | 28 |
| successor, the Rev. James O'Connor, saw one of St. Joseph's | 29 |
| fastest growth periods as the population of Libertyville | 30 |
| expanded significantly; this raised the urgent need for more | 31 |
| ministries and parish family activities, leading to the | 32 |
| building of the new Koenig Parish Center; in July of 1991, | 33 |
| Cardinal Bernardin named Fr. Ronald Anglim to succeed Fr. | 34 |
| O'Connor as pastor of St. Joseph's; Fr. Anglim established the |
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| church's first "strategic plan" following the guidelines set | 2 |
| forth by Vatican II; this plan introduced a major expansion in | 3 |
| service activities and additional ministries that necessitated | 4 |
| greater lay participation through an educated, paid staff and | 5 |
| more trained volunteers; and | 6 |
| WHEREAS, Fr. Anglim's successor, Fr. John Hennessey came to | 7 |
| the parish in 1997 and continues to serve the parish today; he | 8 |
| serves a parish approaching 15,000 parishioners with a | 9 |
| $4,000,000 budget; he leads the congregation with the help of | 10 |
| Parish Staff Administrator Bob Blanke, Associate Pastors Fr. | 11 |
| Ken Kiepura and Fr. Val Laini, Naval Captain (Ret.) Fr. Vic | 12 |
| Ivers, three other Permanent Deacons, and several Pastoral | 13 |
| Associates; and
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| WHEREAS, The members of St. Joseph's Parish have been | 15 |
| celebrating the 100th Anniversary of their parish since May of | 16 |
| 2004, and the celebration culminates in a final liturgy on May | 17 |
| 14, 2005; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 19 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 20 |
| we congratulate St. Joseph Parish in Libertyville on the | 21 |
| occasion of its 100th anniversary, and we thank the | 22 |
| congregation for its faithful service to the spiritual needs of | 23 |
| citizens of Illinois; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 25 |
| presented to St. Joseph Parish in Libertyville as an expression | 26 |
| of our respect and esteem and with best wishes for the | 27 |
| continued success of the parish.
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